Gains App was founded by Hayes Kanyike, a refugee from Kampala, Uganda who immigrated to the United States at age 11. He spent the 2010s building boutique fitness studios in New York, both of which closed during COVID-19. After spending more than $250,000 with outsourced development shops that never delivered, Hayes taught himself to code and shipped Gains App solo on April 28, 2026. The company is bootstrapped with no external funding.

Gains App launched on iOS and Android on April 28, 2026 under the tagline Bank on Fitness.

Gains App is free to download on the App Store and Google Play. Athletes pay a self stake to compete in challenges set by the host creator.

Performance based payouts are processed in real time via Stripe Connect and directly into your Gains App user wallet.

Strava tracks activity. Whoop measures recovery. Peloton sells subscription content. Gains App is the first platform to make competition itself the product — turning workouts into live, paid contests where creators earn judge fees and athletes earn performance based payouts in minutes. It is a competitive fitness platform, not a tracking app or a subscription content service.

Gains App Inc. is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, United States. The company was incorporated on November 18, 2020.

Competitions on Gains App run 1 to 10 minutes.

Competitions are either based on time or max reps. Time-based events are about who can finish the challenge in the shortest time. Max-rep events are about who can do the most reps before failure in the allotted time. All exercise routines are welcome as long as they fit those criteria.

The creator of the event sets the self stake.

Yes. The judge user role is the only user type that requires approval from Gains App. At any time you can also be a competitor or a spectator.

As a personal trainer, you can use your expertise to create events for competitors to join, then judge those events and collect a fee. Your fee is 15 percent of the competition pot — a guaranteed judge fee paid out in 1-2 minutes via Stripe.

Gains App lets you monetize your audience directly through challenges you host — not brand deals, not sponsorships. You create the challenge, your audience pays a self stake to compete, you judge, and you keep 15 percent of every pot as a guaranteed judge fee. No exclusivity, no rate negotiation, paid per challenge instead of per month.

Yes. You can join as a spectator, find challenges suited to your fitness level to compete in, or direct message a trainer to help you prepare for your next competition.

Gains App keeps the fitness community connected, active, accountable, and earning real money for doing what they love.

No. Your participation is at your discretion.

Every prize pot splits three ways:

65% performance based payouts to top performers

15% to the creator/judge as a guaranteed judge fee

20% platform fee to Gains App

At the end of each competition, your share automatically lands in your Gains App wallet.